Long Live Us

"Alex, we're running out of supplies," Zack said, pulling his backpack onto his back. "We have to go out and get more. We can't go without you and Jack."

"Zack," Alex pleaded. "We can't go out there. It's too dangerous! What if they get us?"

"We have to go," Rian cut in. "We won't survive much longer without more supplies. It's been two weeks, Alex. We barely have any food left." He stopped and looked down for a moment. After a minute he quietly added, "And I want to see if Cassadee is alive."

The four boys looked at each other. Alex was afraid to leave the house and Jack was afraid to go without Alex. Even though they knew they wouldn't make it another week without food, they were hesitant to leave the safety if Alex's house. Jack tangled his finger's with Alex's and looked into his eyes.

"I'll go if you go," Jack said softly, a small smile on his lips.

"Okay," Alex said quietly. "But... Don't let go of my hand okay?"

Jack grinned and squeezed Alex's hand. Zack handed them their backpacks and they stood at the front door. Rian looked through the gaps of the boarded up windows to see if the coast was clear. There were no zombies in sight, so they made their way out. Alex had Jack's hand in a death grip, and Jack put his other arm around his friend's waist. They made their way down the street and there were no zombies. Zack figured that since this was the first neighborhood to get attacked, there probably wasn't anything left for the zombies here so they left. They made their way to the city and heard the shuffling and groans of the zombies. Alex was holding onto Jack so tight he thought he might break Jack's wrist. Jack rubbed his thumb over Alex's knuckles and kissed them gently. They pushed their way into the city, occasionally stopping to hide from zombies. They jumped into window of an old warehouse and looked around. There we no zombies in here at all. They climbed up the stairs to the second floor and found shelves full of all the supplies they needed. They filled their backpacks with as much as they could, and looked around some more in case they found anything else. Alex walked over and looked out a window and sighed. Baltimore had been his city, his life. Now it was overrun by zombies. He started to turn around to head back to the guys, but he heard a crack. Before he could move, the floor collapsed beneath him. He screamed and held onto a beam from the flooring.

"Jack!" he screamed. "Rian! Zack! Help me!"

Terrified of the situation that he was in, he forgot that zombies were attracted to noise. They heard Alex's screaming and the falling of the floor. Slowly, they made their way into the warehouse and toward the group of friends.

***

Jack turned around when he heard the floor fall. He quickly ran over to Alex and tried to get him up, but Alex was unreachable. Jack saw the zombies piling in and trying to get Alex.

"Help me!" Alex screamed.

Jack could see the tears in Alex's eyes. He tried desperately to reach his best friend, but to no avail. Tears of frustration made their way down Jack's face. He tried to get Alex again, but was pulled away by Rian.

"We have to go!" Rian said quickly. "The zombies are coming up the stairs!"

"What about Alex?" Jack cried.

Rian and Zack looked at each other, then at Jack.

"We have to leave him behind, Jack."